Chapter 20: Yukinoshita Haruno's Everyday Life in Another World
"In the middle of the dark blue sea lies an island, called Crete, rich and lovely, surrounded by waves. It has many people, ninety-nine cities. Their tongues are mixed: Achaeans, proud native Cretans, Cydonians, three Dorian tribes, and noble Pelasgians dwell there. Among the cities, Knossos is the most magnificent, ruled by Minos, friend of mighty Zeus, who reigned for nine years at a time."
This passage is from the famous Homeric Odyssey, describing the wealth and splendor of the ancient Minoan civilization.
To this, Yukinoshita Haruno wanted to add just one sentence: "Homer, come out here—I promise I won't beat you to death."
But before that, she figured she ought to bring readers up to speed on her current situation.
If her memory served her correctly, she had been traveling in Egypt and spotted an adorable little boy.
But the next thing she knew, she was lying on a large stone slab, surrounded by a group of women dressed in extremely bizarre outfits.
Nothing around her looked familiar—no concrete roads, no buildings.
In their place were clear blue skies, unbelievably fresh air, and rocky terrain devoid of even a single blade of grass.
Strangely enough, these bizarrely dressed women seemed more shocked than she was. They called in some men who wore nothing but cloth around their waists and had her taken away.
She was brought aboard a small single-masted boat, crossed a stretch of sea, passed through a channel between cliffs, and entered another sea—eventually reaching a large island and a city with an ancient aesthetic.
At first, she didn't understand anything—not even the language spoken. But after spending some time in the palace of this city, she discovered that the power Hikigaya had given her wasn't just for setting people on fire.
She began to understand their language, and finally realized where she was.
She had appeared at the altar of ancient Thera, and the women who had brought her here were none other than the long-lost Minoans.
The city she now found herself in was the legendary Knossos, capital of the Kingdom of Minos.
To be honest, Haruno had no idea that lightly teasing a cute boy on foreign soil would result in being isekai'd (transported to another world).
Sure, teasing boys isn't great, but this punishment? Seriously?
Haruno had been raised with a keen sense of survival, so although she was anything but happy, she began adapting to life in the ancient world.
But of course, the ancient world had its inconveniences.
Setting aside the food and living conditions, Minoan women's clothing was downright shameless.
Their formal attire had cutouts specifically to expose their breasts for all to see. Haruno thought this was a far graver offense than a lack of toilet paper.
So although she accepted dressing like a Minoan woman, she drew a hard line at exposing her chest. As a result, she became the only woman in the palace who only showed cleavage.
Still, the fact that she got to live in the royal palace was quite the blessing.
The Minoan civilization was among the most advanced of its time—its urban infrastructure even surpassed that of wealth-renowned Egypt.
For example, the Minoans had built the world's first underground city sewage system.
This meant that while Haruno still lacked toilet paper, she at least had access to indoor plumbing.
This privilege came because she was now regarded in Knossos as a priestess capable of communing with the Earth-shaker god Poseidon—in other words, someone who could interpret earthquakes.
For a true academic like her, giving a rudimentary explanation of seismic activity was child's play.
This was a nation ruled not by earthly kings, but by priestesses who acted as intermediaries between gods and mortals.
These women lived in the palace of Knossos and held supreme authority.
Haruno, though bewildered by the turn of events, had become one of them.
And strangely enough, she kind of enjoyed it.
It was the only bit of fun she could find in this bizarre world.
That morning, like every morning, Haruno awoke early in her luxurious, spacious room.
The chamber was decorated with red and blue columns and walls covered in colorful murals: birds, beasts, women offering tributes, and scenes of bull-leaping ceremonies and rituals.
But such ornamentation was standard in Knossos—every room in the palace was richly decorated.
After washing up with the limited amenities of the era, Haruno allowed her servants to dress her.
Her hair was combed into long, flowing curls, then partially tied into a bun with a ribbon, while the rest cascaded freely down her back.
The servants adorned her with necklaces and bracelets, then dressed her in a tight-fitting bodice and a long skirt made from seven ruffled layers, embroidered with intricate patterns.
The outfit accentuated her elegant figure.
However, unlike the other priestesses of Knossos, Haruno refused to fully expose her breasts. Her top was open just enough to reveal a deep cleavage—the absolute limit of what she and the other priestesses could tolerate.
Once she was dressed, her servants opened her chamber doors, and she stepped into the dim corridors of the palace.
Knossos was a near-square, three-story complex with a maze-like structure, connected by dozens—if not hundreds—of staircases.
It housed hundreds of rooms and was divided into the eastern and western wings.
The east contained royal residences and administrative offices; the west housed warehouses, temples, and the living quarters of priestesses.
Haruno lived in the west wing.
Its center was the Throne Room, used for receiving foreign envoys and important guests. Today, it would be full—emissaries from Asia were expected.
As the world's first thalassocracy (sea empire), the Kingdom of Minos was no less powerful than Egypt or the Hittites of the time.
Today's visiting envoys were from those very nations, both of whom sought Minos as a valuable ally.
Even across the Aegean Sea, the stench of blood and competition between those powers could be smelled. Haruno's country was a prize both sides hoped to win.
Torchlight flickered as she walked through the palace's winding halls.
The western wing had a far more complex layout than the east. Windows were scarce, so airflow and light came mainly from open-air courtyards.
Religion permeated everything—priestesses and eunuch priests in women's clothing carried out mysterious rituals in endless cycles, until the rites became indistinguishable from daily life.
Beneath it all lay the burial grounds of Knossos's elite—dark, eerie, cramped chambers and passageways reserved for the dead. The stench of embalming spices and corpse-washing water had soaked so deeply into the walls that even the living areas above reeked of it.
Confined to the palace, Haruno had no choice but to endure the ever-present, nauseating odor. It only deepened her yearning to escape.
"You heartless jerk…" As always, she muttered to herself while walking the dim corridors. "Where the hell are you? Are you really never going to come for me…?"
After a while, she reached a five-meter-wide staircase leading to the central upper courtyard.
Sighing softly, Haruno ascended the steps—thus began yet another day of her surreal ancient life.
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